بررسی تاثیر اجرای نوآوری در پیکربندی زنجیره تامین
Abstract
1- Introduction
2- Theoretical background
3- Methodology
4- Findings and case description
5- Discussion
6- Conclusion
References
Abstract
Considering the foreseen digital transformation and rapid dissemination of technological innovations, this paper investigates what happens along the supply chain (SC) when process and product innovation practices are implemented. The research examines the SC strategy and configuration of four product families; it considers the configuration to incorporate the whole range of SC functions and relationships. The paper addresses the little attention paid to the process innovation dimension in SC literature, and develops a framework capturing the dynamics between innovation implementation and configuration decisions and settings. The provided analyses guide practitioners on better management of innovation implementation along the supply chain.
Introduction
In the era of digital transformation, supply chains will have to accommodate an expected rapid dissemination of technological innovations (Goldsby and Zinn, 2016; MacCarthy et al., 2016). The recent technological developments can alter the landscape of the supply chain and its configuration; as such, the design of the physical, financial and information flows is expected to be revolutionised (Kearney and WHU, 2015). Innovation is addressed extensively in the supply chain domain (e.g. Bellamy et al., 2014; Zimmermann et al., 2016); however, further attention is still needed to examine the challenges that span the whole supply chain when firms implement innovation—that is, to investigate the entire supply chain configuration, as well as the relationships among the supply chain members (Arlbjørn et al., 2011; Arlbjørn and Paulraj, 2013). The extant literature indicates that most businesses do not change the configuration of their supply chains when they start to implement innovation practices (Arlbjørn et al., 2011), which signals a misfit between the configuration of supply chains and their environment and strategy (i.e. environment-structure-strategy misfit). A better understanding of the impact of innovation implementation, from a holistic perspective, is therefore needed. By doing so, it will be possible to mitigate any risks that might propagate along the supply chain. Furthermore, such a holistic perspective will provide a more realistic analysis of the tangible impact of innovation implementation, which can lead to better management of innovation along the different phases of the supply chain. The process innovation dimension is emerging as an interesting research topic due to the increased diffusion of digitalisation and an expected surge in process innovation (e.g. additive manufacturing, Industry 4.0 tools and AGV-managed warehouses) (Kearney and WHU, 2015; GCI and Capgemini, 2016). There is a substantial number of scholarly publications on the interplay between the various aspects of innovation and the supply chain (Lo and Power, 2010; Pero et al., 2010; Stavrulaki and Davis, 2010; Ülkü and Schmidt, 2011; Pashaei and Olhager, 2015); however, these studies mostly address the product dimension (i.e. new product development/launch, product characteristics and design). So far, the process innovation and its implications for the supply chain have been under-researched.